Women report separate, frightening encounters while walking on the beach

By Amy Lipman and | December 19, 2016 at 9:06 PM EST - Updated August 12 at 9:01 PM

Dorin says she went for a walk on the beach after work around 5:15 p.m. decompress, when she saw a man with a dark hoodie up over his head walking toward her. (Source: WMBF News)

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - The beach is where Angie Dorin goes to relax, but on Nov. 22, it became the setting of a real-life nightmare.

"I'll wake up panicking," she said.

Dorin said she went for a walk on the beach after work around 5:15 p.m., to decompress. It was there where she saw a man wearing a dark hoodie walk toward her. She couldn't see his face.

"I didn't think anything of it because I had my iPod on," Dorin said. "I was looking at dolphins or, I don't know, whatever I'm usually thinking about when I'm walking on the beach."

She said when she turned around to walk back while in the area around 48th Avenue North, he came up behind her and grabbed her.

"I'm thinking to myself, 'Oh, it's my husband. He changed his mind. He's here to walk with me. He's just messing with me,'" she said. "But this guy wouldn't let go. I didn't think to elbow him or anything I could do to defend myself. He was just too strong."

The police report stated the man groped her and thrust his pelvis toward her before pushing her to the ground and running away.

Dorin got up to walk back home, warned two people along the way that someone had just attacked her and then called police when she was back at her house.

"It was pretty bad," she said. "I've tried not to lose my independence. I do still walk on the beach. Most of the time it is with my husband, but sometimes I do go out there by myself. I can't let this person take that away from me or anybody. I can't let anyone else be victimized like this."

Dorin said she wants people to know about what happened, so the person will be caught and can't do this again.

"I hope they catch the guy and I don't want women to feel like they can't do stuff by themselves," she said.

When Dorin reported the assault, she said she found out just a few weeks before, on Oct. 30, a woman told police a man came up to her near 64th Avenue North, said, "Excuse me," then exposed himself to her. The police report said she pushed him away with both of her hands when he came closer to her and she ran away.

He was also described as wearing a black sweatshirt with the hood pulled up over his head, but the woman was able to provide a more detailed description on his appearance: she said he was a light-skinned black male between 20 and 25 years old.

WMBF News found out about these cases after the news director was recently followed home from a beach access by a man wearing a dark sweatshirt with his hood up.

Myrtle Beach police said the subjects cannot be linked without further descriptive details or information.

For those walking on the beach, police recommend being mindful of the situation and their surroundings. Residents and tourists are advised to call somebody, run and take corrective action if anything makes them nervous.

People are also encouraged to walk with someone, use a flashlight if out after dark, and bring mace, an air horn or whatever else might be needed in the event of an emergency, police said.

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